Under the False Moon

Verse 6

19

AUG/10

Being hailed as heroes, The Order of the Second Wind moved out of Halendos towards Webwood. They entered a deep canyon and were accosted by an unseen force. They looked at the top of the canyon and saw a goblin with a deep cut across his forehead “The Neo-Goblinoids are here to ensure that your crimes against Goblinkind will not go unpunished! Your deaths will avenge my family’s brooding chamber.” The Goblin was a sorcerer that had four hidden minions with him. The two assassins were invisible to the PCs, and struck at Rune. Viciously striking back, Rune dropped both of the assassins with one attack. Keyleth attacked one of the hidden archers, and Kava attacked Remgum the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer blasted at the team, dropping Keyleth and Kava in a single lightning blast. Rune charged after the Goblin, and climbed halfway up the canyon towards the Goblin. Kava recovered from the lightning blast and healed Keyleth. She took out the other hidden archer, and the team was ready to focus their fire on Remgum. Remgum knocked Rune off the canyon with a fiery bolt, but it wasn’t enough to fell the Warforged. Kava and Keyleth’s ranged strikes injured Remgum enough to elicit an escape, but the Goblin swore revenge. The team decided to go back to Halendos to recover.

As our heroes entered the village they were immediately harkened for aid. The undead had been pouring out of the catacombs last night and kidnapping villagers. The Order of the Second Wind was asked to clear out the evil of the catacombs and save the villagers within. All but Keyleth accepted; she needed to tend to her wounds at the Grey Chrysanthemum.

The dank catacombs reeked of death and decay. Our heroes moved through the tunnel and heard a crying voice. In an alcove they found a dirty, ragged villager sobbing. “I can’t find my way out of here, please lead me out. They’ll kill me!” After much deliberation the group led the villager out. Once they neared the exit, the villager turned into a Pale Reaver Creeper and attacked Ianhand, a wanderer who believed that the group was a destined set of heroes who had been guided to Ianhand to save the torn-asunder god Bahamut. The Creeper was quickly dispatched, but the group became more aware of the dangers that lay in wait for them.

As the catacombs twisted and turned, they reached a large mausoleum with many of the villagers attached to arcane chains. Ianhand figured that the chains could be used to absorb the life force of the villagers, but it would be at the cost of the villager’s life. In the center of the mausoleum were two Blade Spiders, a large Mummy and a Githyanki Warlock. As he lifted his head, a now-common spider tattoo was blazoned across his neck. “Lady Lolth will destroy you and take this world as her own!”

Banding together, the Order of the Second Wind tore at the spiders. Ianhand swore an Oath of Enmity against the Mummy, and swung viciously at it with his Radiant Blade, a holy weapon that consisted of a hilt and pure holy energy extending from it. One Spider and the Mummy fell and the Warlock mounted the last Spider and flung Eldrich Blasts at the party. Deciding that the spider was more dangerous, the group began an assault on the mount. Rune landed a crushing blow with his chain whip, crushing the spider’s head. With only the Warlock left, he began a deadly salvo of spells, nearly dropping all three of the Order. When he was nearly killed, the Warlock rushed past the lightning-quick attacks of Rune and Ianhand to reach two of the villagers, draining them of their vitality and preparing for a final attack. Kava, thinking of her friends and her faith, spread holy energy throughout the mausoleum with a Beacon of Hope. The radiant energy washed away the spider tattoo on the Warlock’s neck, and he collapsed in a heap, gasping for air, “The villagers are further in the catacombs. Beware the South, only death remains there…” The Warlock then collapsed. Finding some trinkets underneath a freshly-opened floorstone, Rune began to act strangely.

The Warforged burst into flames, engulfing his entire body. As Kava reached to aid the machine, Rune fell apart, and a Fire Genasi grabbed the Warforged’s body and fashioned a Scimitar, and put Rune’s face on as a mask. He was the arcane energy that was powering the Warforged, and his escape marked a new member of the Order of the Second Wind. The group decided to rest before releasing the villagers.

As they exited the catacombs, there was a deafening roar from the center of town. A large Green Dragon had begun to roost within the village. Ianhand, and Quokul, the Warlock were both unconscious, leaving just Kava and Flamevein, the Fire Genasi Wizard. The village square held the Dragon and four Wyrmlings. The Wyrmlings lured Kava onto thick vines, making her harder to hit but thrashing her with thorns every time she moved. Flamevein jumped onto a building’s roof, gaining valuable high ground for his Magic Missiles. The Green Dragon, infuriated at the interlopers, flung magical vines throughout the square, covering Kava in the ivy. Flamevein quickly made an arcane field that repelled the poisonous foliage. Kava escaped the ivy and the shrubs, but was continually pulled into the brush by the gaze of the Wyrmlings. As Kava swung her mace at the small dragons, Flamevein chipped away at the Green Dragon, Grengord, with Magic Missiles. Once Kava looked to be nearly dispatched, the Wyrmlings were instructed to attack the Genasi. The shrub, combined with being poisoned, knocked Kava unconscious in the brush. Flamevein used a powerful Burning Hands to eliminate the last of the Wyrmlings, and charged at Grengord with his Scimitar. Grengord hurled his Poisonous Breath Weapon at the Wizard, bloodying him, and he rushed with vicious speed and slashed at Flamevein with his claws, nearly dropping the man. Kava, meanwhile, slowly died of loss of blood and the deadly poison. As she felt her soul leave her body, she saw Grengord’s claws cleave the Fire Genasi in two. Kava looked upon the wreckage of the village from a position that was clearly not her own, and a bright light shone above her. She looked up at the light, followed it, and…

Kava woke with a start in the catacombs, breathing heavily, and heat radiating from her body. Ianhand, who was on guard watch, rushed to the Dragonborn to see what was the matter. She could only mumble in Draconic the horrible premonition she had seen.